Psychology option topics

We provide a wide range of final year options for students to choose from.

Instead of lots of little modules, we keep things simple by providing options for you to choose from within modules. In the final year, you can choose four topics to study, each taught by an expert in the area. The exact topics can differ each year, depending on staff availability, but as you can see from the topics available in 2015-16, we cover a very wide range of interests, including forensic, clinical, occupational, developmental and neuroscience topics. You also choose a topic for your final year dissertation, so there is plenty of scope for specialisation. Altogether, you select two thirds of your final year topics, so can make the course fit your interests.

Criminals in the
making

The law has long
recognised the link between psychology and crime as embodied in the legal
principle of mens rea or “guilty mind” - meaning an individual cannot be considered
guilty of a crime unless they have carried out the act wilfully and
intentionally. But why do some people commit crime, while others do not? Are
criminals born or made? This option explores some of the key determinants
of delinquent and criminal behaviour from a bio-psycho-social perspective. It takes an individual differences approach to understanding the influence of
personality dispositions, as well as considering the evidence for a biological
basis to criminal behaviour. The impact of substance abuse and mental health
is considered, and we discuss the influence of social and familial
factors, particularly in the context of young people and delinquent/antisocial
behaviour.

Dr Alison Bacon

Meaning effects in
medicine and psychotherapy

Although definitions of placebos
typically refer to inert substances, it is the meaning of sugar pills to
patients which give them potency. As such, a wide range of props,
procedures and rituals may be considered placebos. We will examine historical definitions
and uses of the placebo, use of the placebo in contemporary medical research,
and the evidence for ‘meaning effects’, in a broader sense, in medicine,
psychotherapy, complementary medicine and elsewhere. We investigate
current understandings of the range of psychological and physiological
explanations of meaning effects, and consider the practical and ethical
challenges of using meaning effects in medical practice.

Dr Ben Whalley

Occupational and organisational psychology

Occupational / organisational psychology
is the study of human behaviour in the workplace. It reveals what
influences and motivates behaviour in the workplace to help improve
productivity, efficiency and well-being at work. In this option we introduce
and explore key topics in occupational and organisational psychology. These include personnel selection, management and leadership, assessing
performance, work motivation and job design, stress and well-being at work.
This is a particularly suitable choice for students interested in
careers in applied areas of psychology like occupational or human
factors/ergonomics, as well as for those with an interest in applying
psychological knowledge to real world problems and issues.

Associate Professor Liz Hellier

Eyewitness testimony

Analysis of the recent flood of cases in which convicted
prisoners have been released on the basis of DNA evidence has revealed that
poor eyewitness memory is a contributory factor in the majority of cases. The
main focus of this forensic option is on factors that influence eyewitness
identification, touching on eyewitness recall. It covers system-based research (how identification evidence is
collected, such as in line-up designs, or the use of mug-books), and estimator-based-research
(factors known to influence the accuracy of witnesses, such as
individual differences in confidence, or disguise). The course provides a critical evaluation of what psychology can offer the
legal process by way of procedural advice or expert testimony.

Professor Tim Hollins

The developmental implications of child
maltreatment

Abuse and neglect impact differently on psychological, behavioural and physical development, but also share similar developmental consequences. Variability in effects of abuse may also stem from individual differences related to the age of victims, and from individual differences in response patterns within an age group, the child’s developmental maturity, personal history, circumstances and personality.

Topics in this option are:

a) How clear are the boundaries between the different forms of abuse/neglect?

b) Are the developmental consequences always going to be visible at the time?

d) What psychological processes and mechanisms account for outcomes from different forms of abuse/neglect?

Dr David Rose

Cross-cultural
psychology

Our world is characterised by changes in communication, exchange, and integration of world views, ideas, and products. Despite the impression that societies and people are becoming more similar, we experience clashes of values within and between societies. In
this option, we discuss the effect of cultural factors on human
psychology. We examine how psychology and other disciplines
conceptualise “culture” and how we measure it. We review research that has shown how culture affects human (social)
behaviour, cognition, personality, and development. We discuss applied fields of cross-cultural psychology, for example, cultural
factors in work and organisations, intercultural communication, and health.
We explore how cross-cultural psychology can contribute
to solve some of the problems of our world, such as migration and
prejudice.

Dr Michaela Gummerum

Children’s false
memories

In the legal arena, false memories can
have serious consequences. Remembering false details about a
witnessed event could lead to an innocent person being prosecuted.
Historically, children have been deemed as unreliable as eye-witnesses, but
research over the past 30 years has shown that children can provide accurate
reports of past events. Using children as eye-witnesses in forensic settings
has resulted in a wealth of research on children’s false memories. This option explores different techniques to elicit false
memories in children such as misinformative interviewing, implanting false
events, and evoking spontaneous false memories. We look at developmental
trends: when do older children have more false
memories than younger children and vice versa? We cover the theories explaining false memories in children in different
situations.

Dr Marina Wimmer

Face processing

We recognise our friends,
family, work colleagues and we also process the faces of hundreds of strangers.
From the face we can obtain a wealth of information such as someone’s identity,
gender, attractiveness, ethnic group, or mood, the focus of their attention,
and form impressions of their personality. What are the processes behind
face perception that allows us to do this, and how do they come about? How do
we recognise familiar faces and for those people we don’t know, what can we say
about them from looking at their face? And what happens to our face processing
skills when these processes break down?

Dr Chris Longmore

Aspects of
consciousness

Across five seminars, we will explore the following topics: 1)
Consciousness and perceptual awareness: patient populations and normal
populations. 2) Altered states of consciousness: hallucinations, meditation. 3) Conscious control and free will: voluntary movement, executive control,
hypnosis, drug addiction. 4) Conscious recollection: human and non-human animals. 5) Consciousness and non-human intelligence: non-human animals, machines. We
will consider evidence from behavioural, neuroscientific and comparative
experiments. We will also consider philosophical arguments and the case of
adaptive (intelligent? conscious?) machines.

Professor Andy Wills

How do children learn to talk?

Parents are
puzzled when a baby says “Mummy” for the first time. For this learning to be
possible, the infant must have accumulated an enormous amount of information
about his/her maternal language. Over the past 40 years, we have
had the empirical and theoretical tools to address this fundamental issue, and
distinguish how nature and nurture interact in this learning process. In these
lectures, I will try to cover the main findings of the past decades, focusing
on the early years (0 to 2 years). I will also explore the most recent areas of
research in the field: how children retrieve word units from the continuous
speech stream, how they learn about the elementary speech sounds, how
bilingualism shapes early perception, how is language implemented in the
developing brain.

Dr Caroline Floccia

Visual perception: evolution, genes, and environments

What we see and perceive has been shaped by
our evolutionary history. This option explores how our vision has been determined by the interaction of genes with
environments. How did the complex eye
evolve? Why did vision evolve? Why are our eyes
shaped differently from insects? Why do we have eyes in the front of our heads,
but many animals have eyes at the side? Dinosaurs had better
colour vision than mammals – what happened? Why did our loss of
smell coincide with our gain in colour vision – was it fruit, sex, or social
life? Why is colour blindness common in men – does it have an advantage? Do blind people get jet-lag? Why, these days, do so many people
need to wear spectacles - nature or nurture, or both? To answer these
questions, we discuss visual pathways, visual perception, some basic
genetics, and evolution, and delve into the mysteries of developmental
plasticity.

Professor Chris Harris

Speech, music and
birdsong: did we sing before we spoke?

Although we are the only animals to
have language, communication systems abound in the natural world. In
particular, vocal signals are used very often to signal aggression, cooperation
or sexual interest. What are the unique features of human language and what
does it have in common with communication in chimpanzees, dolphins and
songbirds? Did music come before language in human evolution? What does the way
we speak tell other people about how we feel? We will listen to examples of animal
signalling and human language, thinking about the sounds of communication in
their social and informative context. We investigate vocal sounds that
seem to be understood by people from all cultures and consider the special
place of swearing in human communication.

Dr Laurence White

Consciousness

Consciousness is one of the biggest
mysteries in science. Most of us feel that our conscious thoughts form our personalities and inspire our actions, but is this an illusion? Through a mix of problem-based learning, small-group discussions and lecturing on
key material, we tackle problems such as how we can tell if someone else is conscious, how the
brain creates consciousness, whether robots will one day be conscious. Practical
demonstrations and activities will give insight into some of the complexities
of the topic: What are you conscious of right now? Can you control your
thoughts? What does it feel like to look at your hand and see a cat instead?
This option will help you develop informed opinions on important questions: Are
there zombies? Are slugs conscious? Does Marmite taste the same for you as it
does for me?

Professor Jackie Andrade

Animal behaviour

Studies of animal behaviour are used to illuminate aspects of human
functioning by many areas of psychology. However, this course will
explore animal behaviour as a fascinating topic in its own right, with any
implications for human psychology emerging as bonuses rather than being our
primary goal. We will explore different approaches and traditions in the
study of animal behaviour by psychologists, and there will be particular
emphasis on recent developments in the application of operant psychology in
animal husbandry.

Associate Professor Phil Gee

Asymmetry, culture, cognition, and the brain

Most people have heard of the left brain
and the right brain, and of their supposed differences. Dividing complicated
things, like the mind and the brain, into two is deeply appealing and has deep
historical roots that are reflected in our present culture, language, and
morality. But is there any truth to all this? This option discusses cerebral asymmetry and
laterality of function of the human brain. The goal is to understand how the hemispheres work together to produce perception,
cognition, and action. You will learn to
distinguish baseless claims about the two sides of the brain from
hypotheses supported by empirical evidence. We’ll see that the division of
the brain into two halves has real implications for the human (and animal)
mind, but that the truth is much more interesting than simplistic claims about
the ‘artistic’ or ‘scientific’ brain.

Dr Matt Roser

Stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination

One of the key issues that social psychologists have long tried to
understand is how stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination emerge, how they
are maintained, and how best to change or counteract them. In this option we
will address such questions as: Are some people more prone to being prejudiced
than others? How does the media transmit negative stereotypes about women and
minorities? Can people control their reliance on stereotypes when it comes to
judging others, or is stereotyping really inevitable? How are members of
minority and low-status social groups affected by the negative stereotypes
others hold of them? What strategies might be effective in reducing prejudice
and discrimination in society?

Associate Professor Natalie Wyer

Social neuroscience

A capacity that sets us apart from our closest ancestors in the animal kingdom is the capacity for social interaction
and cooperation. At any moment, people maintain countless social
relationships. We help others or compete with them. We read thoughts or feelings from their behaviour. We share knowledge and
objects. This option explores what is known about the processes that make
these interactions possible. We investigate brain systems that allow us to
recognise and extract information from faces, such as attractiveness and trustworthiness. We cover the processes underlying
empathy and imitation that help us to learn from others and understand their
emotions. We address higher-level capacities of social cognition,
such as moral judgements and theory of mind (the understanding that others have
beliefs, desires and intentions that might be different from one’s own).

Dr Patric Bach

Moral psychology: why we are pro- or anti-social

It's
wartime, and you're hiding in a basement with your baby and a group of other
people. Enemy soldiers are outside and will be drawn to any sound. If found,
you will be killed immediately, as well as everybody with you. Your baby starts
to cry loudly and cannot be controlled. You try to smother his cries, but if
you continue to so, it will die of asphyxiation. Do you allow your baby air, or
do you continue to stifle the noise? This option explores the psychology of moral judgements and moral dilemmas: decisions about what is “good” or “bad”, what one should do. A session takes place in the virtual reality lab, where moral choices can be experienced in
a virtual real scenario. Psychopathy and terrorism, are examined and we discuss why people are
aggressive, harming others, stealing, and lying.

Dr Sylvia Terbeck

Visual perception and the brain

Vision is the most important source of knowledge about the world that we have.
How does the brain deliver to us this rich perceptual world which we
experience? In this course we will look at what happens in the brain during
visual stimulation, primarily using direct measures of brain function
(electrophysiology, fMRI, fNIRS) along with some behavioural evidence. Topics
include: principles behind direct recording of brain function, visual pathways,
early stages of visual processing, pattern vision, motion perception, colour
perception.

Dr William Simpson

Implicit and
explicit memory

Can our memories have unconscious influences on our behaviour?
Intuitively, it feels as if they can, but whether this can be demonstrated in
the laboratory has proven to be a controversial issue. There is now a
fascinating array of research relating to implicit, or unconscious, memory. We explore this research by critically examining:

major theories of
implicit memory,

the main methods used for demonstrating that memories can
be unconscious,

Dr Chris Berry

Social comparison

People compare themselves and others all the time, sometimes without
noticing it. This course is designed to advance your understanding of these
social comparison processes. We will look at different domains of comparison,
for example, health, achievement, income. Why is it that some comparisons make us feel
good and others make us feel bad? We discuss motives for social
comparisons, cognitive consequences such as assimilation and contrast, and
emotional consequences such as inspiration and envy. We look at
social comparison interventions to change actual behaviour. These include
comparative feedback and social norm interventions in the field, in domains
ranging from health to sustainability.

Associate Professor Sabine Pahl

Drugs, the brain
and behaviour

Who we are and what we do, is determined
by the structure and function of our brain. This amazing organ is the
most complex machine in the universe. While this complexity
provides great and diverse possibilities for function, it brings an equal
opportunity for dysfunction, resulting in a diverse array of neurological
disorders.We will discuss a
variety of different neurological disorders and explore the details of
epidemiology, symptoms and diagnosis. We will link these to the
biological basis of each disorder and to the drugs used in their treatment. We explore the outcomes of these
treatments and discuss where current research might lead to future treatments.
You will learn about the brain regions
involved in various neurological disorders, the physiological and
pharmacological changes that underlie those disorders and how
the drugs used for treatment improve quality of life.

Associate Professor Stephen Hall

Human associative learning

This option examines Pavlovian and instrumental learning in humans. We look at the phenomena observed in animals, such as blocking and
extinction, and whether the usual “associative” explanations of those phenomena
also apply to humans. We address the role of
controlled cognition in associative learning. Most psychologists assume that
associative learning (for example, that a bell signals food) is a very simple process
that occurs automatically, perhaps outside of conscious awareness. This
suggests that we have no control over what we learn. Recent evidence suggests
that, at least in humans, this view is wrong. The option focuses mainly on
laboratory-based experiments that are designed to test the theories of
learning. The implications for more applied areas of psychology are also discussed. These include exposure therapy for phobia, learning in
amnesic patients and stimulus control of behaviour in addiction.

Professor Chris Mitchell

Memory and false memory

We examine how basic theories of memory can help us understand
phenomena in the real world. The focus is on memory failure, and there will be
four topics.

1) Theories of false memory.2) Recovered memories of trauma and
abuse.3) Forgetting and misinformation (in eyewitness testimony).4) Social
collaboration and conformity in memory.

Dr Michael Verde

Cognitive and brain
bases of deception perception and production

Individuals and societies have sought methods to determining when a person is lying. These
methods rely on behavioural cues (for example, facial expressions), physiological variables (for example, skin conductance), and more
recently brain activity (ERPs and fMRI). This option explores
recent experimental literature on the psychology and cognitive neuroscience of
deception perception and production, to address questions such as: Why
and how often do people lie? How accurate are people at detecting that others
are lying? How accurate are “lie detection” tests and is it possible to “beat”
them? Is it possible to tell if someone is lying by examining their brain
activity? Deception will be placed in the context of findings and theories from
the psychology and neuroscience of executive control, memory, and social
cognition.

Associate Professor Giorgio Ganis

Humans in
technological systems

People drive cars, log onto computers and operate machinery.
Some fly planes, operate nuclear power plants or conduct
micro-surgery. In human factors we explore how humans interact with artificial technological environments, how technology influences performance,
comfort and health. We consider how human
capabilities and limitations, for example, psychology, should be
used to design technology, work and work systems so that they are safer and
more effective. We cover the
effects of shiftwork, the design of the human machine
interface, warning systems, and the concept of human error. We use case
studies such as Bhopal, Three
Mile Island and Chernobyl.

Associate Professor Liz Hellier

Music and emotion

Most people’s connection with music is an emotional, rather than a
perceptual or cognitive one. It is however only relatively recently that
research into the psychology of music has reflected the importance of emotion
across many aspects of music and the mind.
This option considers the relationship between music, psychological
processes and various aspects of emotional response in understanding the role
of emotion and mood in music, in particular the understanding of the mood of
music by listeners, the ability of music to alter or enhance moods, the way
music can affect performance on other tasks (because of its emotional
connotations), and other links between music and emotion. Consideration is also
given to studies which have shown direct physiological effects attributable to
music listening, as well as other responses such as the ‘chill’ response.

Professor Judy Edworthy

Amnesia, memory,
and the brain

Empirical research with amnesia
patients, especially studies of the famous patient HM who inspired films like Memento, illustrate the ways in which amnesia demonstrates conscious and non-conscious learning and memory processes. We cover the brain
systems that support different kinds of memory abilities, including insights
about each system that have emerged from amnesia research. We also
consider how modern neuroimaging techniques reveal where, when, and how each brain system encodes and reactivates memory. You will learn how to design your own memory studies. Since memory is involved in most applied, clinical, social, and cognitive
psychological phenomena, this will be a highly useful ability that can be
applied throughout one’s life and career as a psychologist.